 | | "Where is Everyone? Our Communities are Falling Apart!"
While the government is delaying communal solutions, some former Gush Katif communities are simply disintegrating - and this is the real tragedy, says Naamah Zarbiv of Moshav Katif.
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More Details |  | | Monday, October 24, 2005
21 Tishrei 5766
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| | Arutz Sheva wishes its readers a happy Sukkot holiday.
| 1. "Where is Everyone? Our Communities are Falling Apart!"
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
While the government is delaying communal solutions, some former Gush Katif communities are simply disintegrating - and this is the real tragedy, says Naamah Zarbiv of Moshav Katif.
| The families of Moshav Katif were taken, on Expulsion Day over two months ago, to the Kfar Pines Girls High School, where they have been living in dormitories. Though originally committed to relocating together as a group - in accordance with unambiguous psychological recommendations submitted to the government over a year ago, based on the experience of the expulsion from Yamit in 1982 - some families have essentially given up and left.
Naamah Zarbiv, a long-time veteran Katif resident, is clearly anguished at the situation:
"When we say the popular slogan, 'We won't forgive and we won't forget,' it no longer refers to the expulsion itself - it's mainly because of what has happened to the communities since then. Our beautiful communities are simply falling apart. The government is keeping us hanging, not providing the [communal] solutions, and little by little people are just leaving. Some of them have gone off on their own, and others to Yad Binyamin or other locations.
"In addition, another 10 or so have gone to the Faith City encampment of Atzmonah - but they have not split off from us; on the contrary, they are there in our name, in order to exert pressure on the government. But it doesn't look like this plan worked, and instead it has merely increased the sense of disintegration."
"To be precise," Naamah continued - simultaneously showing almost full attention to her little children who needed her help as they drew pictures - "let me emphasize that we were originally 70 families in Moshav Katif - and a full 65 of us arrived here in Kfar Pines after the expulsion. This was very impressive, considering all the pressures we all faced. Just in the past few weeks, however, another 20 families have left (not including the 10 to Atzmonah) - and that is a very large percentage. Many simply couldn't take the uncertainty any more, and because of this, our beautiful community is falling apart. For me and many others, this is simply the end of the world. Why doesn't the religious public realize this? Why are the intersections not full of protests over the destruction of the towns? Where are all our politicians from the National Union, and Uzi Landau, and all the others?
"Even the families that went to Atzmonah - if the prefab housing units the government promised us are not ready, then as time passes, they will become more and more attached to Atzmonah, and are likely not to return. The same with the other families who have gone elsewhere... In other communities, too, the situation is similar: Atzmonah has split up into two, and Netzarim, and Gadid, and of course N'vei Dekalim [the largest of the Gush Katif communities - ed.]... If our prefab housing site near Lahish and Nehushah had been ready, where we want to build our new community, 50 families would have been there now. But instead, the units have not even begun to be built! The black humor going around here is that the only one who really believed that 'hayo lo tihyeh' [the promise by some rabbis that the expulsion would not take place] was Yonatan Bassi [the head of the Disengagement Authority, who did not prepare sufficient housing for the expellees]..."
"We were told that only if 120 families promise to move in, would the government start building the prefab housing site. We were close to this number, with families from N'vei Dekalim and elsewhere - but the government refuses to enter into real negotiations with us because the matter of Kfar Darom's move to their apartment building has not yet been finalized, though we don't know why there has to be a linkage. And so every day that it drags on, more people drop out; just yesterday and today, two more families dropped out."
"It appears that for most of the country, the problem of Gush Katif was over the day of the expulsion - and from then on, it became our own private problem. Is it just a matter of donations and charity from the various funds? Is it just our private issue, or is it a national calamity that the beautiful communities of Gush Katif are disintegrating? All along the highways you see signs warning that Gush Katif was just the beginning and that other areas are next - as if there is nothing left to work for on behalf of Gush Katif itself. People are busy arguing about what should be our attitude towards the State in light of the expulsion - are barely even know about the concrete problems that the expulsion has caused and is causing."
The only bright note that Naamah can see is the upcoming holiday of Simchat Torah, which begins tonight: "All the families of Katif are returning to Kfar Pines for the holiday, as well as many of the people who were with us in our last days and weeks before the uprooting, and this should raise our morale. But the day after, we're being shuffled off to a hotel in Ashkelon for who knows how long; it's not considered a good hotel, and we're sure to lose some more families in the process..."
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| | 2. Top Terrorist Dead; Jihad Threatens Revenge
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
The number-one most wanted terrorist in Judea and Samaria was killed Sunday night in a clash with IDF forces in Tul Karem, east of Netanya. Islamic Jihad promises sharp revenge.
| Three terrorists were killed in the battle, including Luis Saadi, who was responsible for killing 12 Israelis and wounding 150 others. Specifically, he directed the murderous attacks at the Stage Club in Tel Aviv in February of this year and outside the HaSharon Mall in Netanya three months ago.
A terrorist cell under the command of Saadi was preparing to carry out another attack during the next few days, IDF Ephraim Region Commander Col. Aharon Haliwa said Monday. "The killing of Saadi prevented a sad holiday week for Israel," Haliwa said.
Saadi was also responsible for smuggling terrorists to Jerusalem, as well as other attacks. He was originally arrested in 1999, but was freed from prison in January, 2004 when Israel exchanged 400 terrorists for the release of Elchanan Tenenbaum and three soldiers' bodies.
The battle began when an IDF force encountered a car carrying armed Arabs and ordered the driver to stop. The terrorists fled to a nearby building, shooting at the soldiers along the way. As exchanges of fire raged, an IDF engineering unit arrived and destroyed the building atop the terrorists.
An explosives vest, Kalachnikov rifle and a pistol were later found on Saadi's body. IDF Col. Haliwa said that they did not know with certainty that Saadi was in the car at first, "though we knew that top Islamic Jihad leaders were meeting in the area, and we took action."
The IDF imposed a closure on Tul Karem in the hours following the battle, but later left the area. Some 30 terrorists were arrested throughout Judea and Samaria during the night.
The Islamic Jihad terror organization appeared particularly angered by Saadi's killing, and its threats of revenge caused the IDF to increase its level of alert in the Gaza region. Additional forces have not been deployed, but it is feared that Sderot and environs will be targeted with mortar shells and Kassam rockets. Some Jihad spokesmen even promised a "series of attacks."
Col. Haliwa said that the IDF has been operating against the terrorist infrastructures in Tul Karem for several months: "This is the most complex terror group in all of Shomron, with more Israeli blood on its hands than any other."
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| 3. Two Israeli-Arab Dentists Detained on Charges of Terrorism
| By Naomi Grossman
After a gag order was lifted Sunday, the press reported that two Israeli-Arabs have been arrested on charges of terrorism. The two joined Hamas when studying dentistry in Romania during the 1990s.
The pair, who are from Nazareth and Kafr Manda, have confessed to carrying out assignments for Hamas in the 1990s. They allegedly underwent terrorist training in Turkey before returning to Israel, said the police and the Shin Bet security service on Sunday. The suspects were arrested last month.
Prosecutors from the Haifa District Court will ask that the suspects be held in custody until the end of their trial on charges of assisting the enemy in wartime and making contact with foreign agents. Charges will be officially brought against them on Monday.
Supt. Shmuel Boker, commissioner of the Central Command of the Galilee, told Arutz-7, “Two dentists from the Galilee Region, Nazmi Hussein and Abd A-Salaam Zidan, have been arrested. The first suspect became a friend of Hamas activists while studying Romania, and he was conscripted over there.”
While abroad, Hussein took part in religious services and lectures at a mosque in Romania, during which he listened to inciteful speeches on the ideals of the Islamic Brotherhood.
“He intended to assist the organization in its activities against the State of Israel,” Supt. Boker said. “With this purpose in mind, he took part in training sessions in Turkey, exercises and various underground, secret activities. Afterwards, he was asked to find other Israeli Arabs who would be willing to help him with his activities.”
Supt. Boker added that after a while, Hussein conscripted the other dentist, A-Salaam Zidan, who was also studying in Romania. “Both of them met with Hamas agents,” added Supt. Boker. “The second man, from Kafr Manda, was sent to Turkey for training, where he learned terror tactics. He then traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he trained with Hamas members. He gathered information on densely populated areas and high buildings. The two were also asked to choose apartments for overnight accommodation in Kafr Manda.”
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| | 4. Gush Katif Round-Up: Shirat HaYam
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
The ex-residents of the former Gush Katif beachfront community of Shirat HaYam, both permanent and temporary, held a results-geared reunion on Sunday in Kiryat Arba.
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In attendance were the town's nearly 20 original families, over 60 other families that had come to fortify them for various durations in the several months before the expulsion, and many of the hundreds of youths who came for the same purpose. The result? "Instead of a small group of 17 families trying to keep ourselves afloat," resident Yossi Hazut said, "we are now a strong group of 80 families working for this purpose. Each of the families and youths that came to help us then, is willing to continue to help us now, until we find a permanent solution for Shirat HaYam."
As examples, Hazut, the town's "mayor," told Arutz-7 today, "One person said he will contact his uncle, an engineer, who will help us design our public buildings; another will coordinate efforts to find us places to stay when we need a couple of days off; another will help in raising money; and the like."
Hazut said that a critical problem at present is the lack of "what to do." The families have been living in the dormitory of Yeshivat Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion. They had been hoping to move to a new community in the Jordan Valley, but "complications" are holding up this option, "and at present we have no definite direction."
Similar to the expelled residents of Netzer Hazani (currently in Hispin), Moshav Katif (Kfar Pines), Gadid (N'vei Ilan) and others, the people of Shirat HaYam are effusive in praising their hosts. Hazut noted particularly the efforts of Rabbi Yosef Rimon, the rabbi of the new neighborhood in Alon Shvut: "He has opened an afternoon kollel (Torah study program) for us, with small stipends, and in general he and the community have adopted us very closely and warmly... But the bottom line is that we're still waiting [ten weeks after the expulsion - ed.]..."
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Click Here! | | 5. Hundreds March to Sebastia
|  | | By Naomi Grossman
Around 200 young people started marching on Sunday evening from the Samarian community of Kedumim to the railway station in Sebastia, where they were joined by 300 of their peers.
| Daniella Weiss, mayor of Kedumim and one of the founders of the Gush Emunim movement, stated, “They haven’t buried us, they haven’t killed us. We will go on and we will continue to be strong.”
Hundreds of the participants on the march danced and sang. At one point, Arabs threw stones at the marchers, but no one was hurt.
The group apparently reached the area by taking routes that the IDF has not yet blocked. However, many people encountered police resistance, when Samarian police officers tried to prevent them from marching.
The Samaria regional police have so far detained 10 people, who broke into Sebastia during the march. They claim that two of those arrested tried to puncture the tires of the police cars and that two officers were lightly wounded during the scuffle. However, the marchers say that the police treated them very violently.
As the security forces are concerned that hundreds of young people will make their way to the evacuated communities of Chomesh and Sa-Nur, roadblocks have been set up in the surrounding area.
Sebastia has been officially closed since the beginning of the Oslo War five years ago. However, the IDF allowed the Samarian tourist officers to bring organized groups to the site, which was the site of one of the earliest settlements established by Gush Emunim in the early 1970s.
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| | 6. Girl Refuses to Cooperate With Court System
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
One girl, 16, remains in prison for activities relating to her protest of the expulsion from Gush Katif/Shomron. She steadfastly refuses to cooperate with a legal system she considers "un-Jewish."
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Contrary to the position of her court-appointed attorney, the judge ordered the girl to undergo psychiatric testing.
"What's next?" asks Shmuel Medad, head of the Honenu civil rights organization. "Forced injections for prisoners who don't cooperate? We are truly turning into a dictatorial regime."
In a closed-door hearing yesterday in a Kfar Saba court, the defendant - known publicly only as T., because of her age - said she wants to be tried only by a "Jewish" court, in a court governed not by "British laws," but rather by Torah edicts. Until then, she said, she would not agree to cooperate with court authorities.
In light of T.'s position, her court-appointed lawyer requested to be released from her position. The court refused this request, ordering her to continue to represent her client at least through the stage of psychiatric testing. The judge ordered the next hearing for the second week of November, after the psychiatric testing, but thus far no such test has been held.
T. was originally arrested several weeks ago when she tried to enter the now-destroyed Shomron community of Sa-Nur to resist the expulsion. As she was being dragged by a female soldier, the latter was cut by a knife that fell out of the girl's pocket. The Prosecution originally accused her of willfully stabbing the soldier, but these charges were dropped when the soldier herself said that she was cut accidentally. T. was later freed with no restrictions, but was arrested the next day, Sept. 15, when she again entered Sa-Nur - and has been in prison ever since.
Her mother, contacted by Arutz-7, said, "She simply refuses to cooperate with this corrupt and sick system, and so she remains in prison until the end of the proceedings against her - whenever that is. Her spirit is very high, and she takes everything well, even though she is basically alone in prison [aside from the other inmates in the N'vei Tirzah Women's Prison - ed.]... She spends much time reading and learning."
T. can call home once a day, and her family visits her once a week. "The visits are restricted to only two adults and three children," her mother said, "but we have a large family. So this week we asked for a special family visit, and finally after much delay, they granted it to us - but only for a half-hour."
Asked her own opinion on her daughter's incarceration, the woman said, "Of course I want her out - even today! But I also strengthen her hand in her uncompromising struggle - and at the end, they'll see that she is strong, and they'll throw her out of there."
It has been noted that T.'s position should be seen in the context of the current debate over the proper religious-Zionist attitude towards the State and its organs. Leading rabbis and thinkers in this sector have repeatedly said that the youth who led the struggle against the Disengagement Plan must prepare themselves for leadership positions in Israel, turning the State into a truly Jewish country, with courts, public education, government offices and the Knesset running according to Torah values and laws. As such, it is said, T.'s struggle - and similar ones waged by other young arrestees in the last several weeks - is simply a first step in this direction.
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Click Here! | | 7. Threatened Defense Cuts Could Lead to Halt in Training
|  | | By Naomi Grossman
The Defense Minister has warned that a further reduction in the defense budget could lead to a halt in training for regular IDF forces. The Finance Ministry has denied media reports of the cuts.
| During a brief visit to London, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz slammed Finance Ministry officials regarding a possible reduction of NIS1 billion in the defense budget. “The clerks there have forgotten that there is a government, and they think that they own the state,” he said.
The Israeli daily, Yediot Acharonot, reported on Sunday that the Finance Ministry has presented a cut of NIS1 billion in benefits to regular soldiers before the Knesset for approval. The cuts would mean that dozens of IDF and Defense Ministry representatives abroad would have to return to Israel. Tax benefits to vehicle owners would be slashed and “sport points” would be annulled. The number of those eligible for state funding for their university studies would be reduced, and the criteria determining the status of disabled IDF veterans would be severely limited.
“It’s a shame that the Finance Ministry chooses each time to hit the army and its regular troops, who work day and night to protect Israel. Any further cuts to the defense budget will lead to a halt in training for the regular forces,” stated Mofaz.
In response, the Finance Ministry stated that, “the state budget for 2006 will be presented before the Knesset plenum for a first reading on 31st Oct. 2005, based on government decisions from Sept. 8th, 2005 on the subject of economic policy for 2006. Along with the budget will be included changes in its structure and composition, as well as what has been agreed with the prime minister on the defense budget’s parameters and any cuts.
“From this it should be understood that any reports that the Finance Ministry is planning a further reduction to the defense budget of NIS 1 billion are groundless, and any details that have appeared in the media on this issue are neither correct nor exact. Whatever will be presented before the Knesset plenum and what the Finance Ministry is committed to are government decisions, with the prime minister’s agreement on defense budget cuts, as mentioned above.”
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